Movie Review - Wuthering Heights

Director: Emerald Fennell
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 136 minutes
Year: 2026
Starring: Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi
 
Description: A passionate and tumultuous love story set against the backdrop of the Yorkshire moors, exploring the intense and destructive relationship between Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi) and Catherine Earnshaw (Margot Robbie).
 
Review: The 2026 film adaptation of “Wuthering Heights”, directed by Emerald Fennell (known for “Saltburn”), is a visual spectacle that unfortunately sacrifices the emotional depth of Emily Brontë’s masterpiece for style and provocation.

The film is undoubtedly beautiful to look at. The cinematography captures the rugged Yorkshire moors with and almost tangible atmosphere, and the costumes are Oscar-worthy. The addition of modern music by Charli XCX gives the film a bold, contemporary energy that will appeal especially to a younger generation.

Margot Robbie is the strongest element of the film. Robbie portrays Cathy torn between social expectations and wild desire. Cathy is highly unlikeable, complex character and Robbie really captured that.

Although Jacob Elordi, as Heathcliff, perfectly embodies the brooding heartthrob, his performance lacks the raw, exclusion-fueled pain that is essential to the character. As a result, he often comes across as a toxic, privileged man rather than the tormented orphan from the book.

That this adaptation is nothing like the book is an understatement. It’s a very bold interpretation of Brontë novel. The biggest flaw is that the film prioritizes sensuality over emotional depth. Fennell opts for shocking image and explicit scenes that distract rather than reinforce the tragic love story. I cannot even call it a love story, Cathy and Heathcliff are so toxic. There is really something wrong with you if you think what these two have in this movie is romantic.

“Wuthering Heights” is a bold, stylized reinterpretation that is great or the eyes but leaves the heart cold. It is and interesting film for those who love modern costume dramas, but those looking for the true soul of Brontë would do better to reread the book. Which I am definitely planning on doing.  

Rating: 3/ 5